Army Body Fat Calculator

Losing body fat can be achieved by lifestyle interventions regarding diet, exercise, and removing bad habits. And it becomes exponentially more critical to ensure that you’re losing enough body fat when competing for a position in the U.S. Army.

In other words, without a level of accuracy, you’re simply putting your success in the hands of luck. Instead, opt to use a calculator that calculates status and progress to ensure that you’re both on the right track and on target to meet your fat loss goals.

• For the U.S. Army, the maximum allowable body fat percentages for enlistment are 24% for men and 30% for women, according to Army Regulation 600-9.
• The U.S. Navy has its own set of standards that use a maximum body fat percentage of 23% for men and 34% for women for ages 18-21 and different standards for different age groups.
• The U.S. Air Force has a maximum body fat percentage of 20% for men and 28% for women for ages 17-29.
• The U.S. Marine Corps standards are 18% body fat for males and 26% for females for new recruits, but these percentages change with age.

Each service branch has its own regulations and standards for body fat percentage, and these standards are periodically reviewed and updated.

In what follows, we’ll outline what the Army Body Fat Calculator is, how it works, what problems it solves, and why you can benefit from its functionality as a user of the Army Body Fat Calculator.

What an Army Body Fat Calculator is

As mentioned, the Army Body Fat Calculator is a calculator that measures one’s body fat using the standards set by the U.S. Army’s medical fitness quotas.

For those seeking to enter the U.S. Army, it’s necessary to comply with all medical fitness standards. Failure to do so will be a failure to be accepted. One such criterion is, of course, body fat.

How do you measure your body fat, you ask? While there are several means and mechanisms to do so, one way that’s arguably the most convenient is the Army Body Fat Calculator; a resource used to derive your body fat percentage based on a set of inputs.

The following are the inputs involved with the Army Body Fat Calculator

• Gender
• Age
• Height
• Neck Size
• Waist Size

Unlike other fitness calculators such as the TDEE calculator, the Army Body Fat Calculator is arguably the most consistent and accurate simply because the inputs required seldom change daily.

In other words, your gender, age, height, neck size, and waist size aren’t going to change overnight.

Before diving into the details surrounding the calculator’s functionality, it’s important to note that you should aim to receive three separate body fat measurements and average them to get the most accurate measurements.

How an Army Body Fat Calculator Works

As mentioned, the Army Body Fat Calculator requires the user to input basic personal information (gender, age, height, neck size, waist size) to accurately measure their body fat percentage.

Once you measure and input these pieces of information, the calculator will spit out a singular number that will depict your body fat percentage, informing you of whether you meet the Department of Defense’s fitness requirements based on age and other vital considerations.

To further illustrate the Army Body Fat Calculator’s functionality, consider the following example of an Army prospect seeking to measure and accurately gauge whether they’re qualified for the U.S. Army based on their current body fat percentage.

Do they immediately meet the standard, or does more work need to be done before applying to the program? Let’s find out.

Example

A 24-year-old male has recently discovered his interest in joining the United States Military. He has recently discovered the necessity of being in the top form regarding his health and fitness to be considered for application.

While he’s pretty confident in his general fitness capacity, he’s uncertain whether he meets the body fat percentage standards for his age and gender based on the Department of Defense’s medical fitness requirements.

Lacking the resources and funds to seek out a medical-grade body fat measurement via a Dexascan or otherwise, he resorts to the internet, hoping to find a free and convenient tool. As luck would have it, he came across the Army Body Fat Calculator.

Upon inputting the necessary information, he receives a body fat measurement of 23%. Through some research, he learns that although he meets the maximum limit to join, he’s 1% over the limit required upon entry and 5% over the requirement set by the Department of Defense.

As a young and determined man, he doesn’t only want to meet the limit, but he wants to blow it out of the water.

Thanks to the information provided by the calculator, he’s equipped to proceed with his training and return at his convenience to keep up to date with his progress. When and only when he’s content with the measurement the calculator provides will he apply to enlist?

The calculator saved him from failure and motivated him to become more fit than ever before, not only for the military but for himself.

Tips for Achieving Your Fat Loss Goals

It’s one thing to embark on a weight loss journey for your well-being. However, it’s an entirely different beast when you’re embarking on a journey with the primary purpose of enlisting in the U.S. Military.

Not only are the demands grand and the standards high, but the sheer responsibility and risk associated with such a career make for a drastically different fitness journey. More intensity, greater effort, and an unrelenting commitment only scratch the surface of what’s required of you as a prospect of the U.S. Army.

While the intensity and effort might be more demanding, the tools, tactics, and strategies for meeting your objective of weight loss and fat loss remain the same.

Mistakes to Avoid

With that said, the following are some helpful tips and mistakes to avoid when seeking to lose fat in hopes of one day enlisting in the military.

1. Setting Unrealistic Goals

Setting unrealistic goals is quite common in highly competitive people, especially those with the lofty goal of becoming part of the United States Military. Setting unrealistic goals can sometimes look honorable, but it is the fastest way to burn out and fail.

Instead, consider approaching your fat loss goal with a more realistic outlook. This doesn’t imply that you should hold back and give it a partial effort. It simply means planning that will set you up for success.

If you’re seeking to lose 5% body fat, aim to lose 1% per week rather than 5% in one week. While it may take longer to accomplish your goal, eventually, it will result in more sustainable results that you can carry through to the rest of your military career.

2. Starving Yourself

While this sounds like an obvious action to avoid, it is common among those looking to lose weight and burn fat. They become obsessed with progress, and when they choose to go the extreme route, they see a massive improvement in a short period.

The only problem, however, is that it’s detrimental to your health, well-being, and athletic performance. It will only result in long-term burnout, ultimately resorting to your old ways and gaining back all the weight/fat.

Instead, while it’s important to avoid overeating, it’s also essential to avoid eating too little. In other words, while eating in a calorie deficit is necessary, eating in a severe deficit will harm your metabolism and, eventually, reverse your progress. Not to mention the potential health consequences that come with it.

Find the balance, and you’ll reach your fat loss goal. Consider using a TDEE calculator to balance your caloric intake and activity levels accurately.

3. Avoiding the Weight Room

For those on a fat loss journey, avoiding the weight room is an all-too-common mistake due to the fear of packing on too much muscle, thus gaining more weight (muscle weighs more than fat).

This is a terrible mistake, especially if you’re hoping to enter the military someday. Here’s why.

First, though muscle does weigh more than fat, it also speeds up your metabolism. With the right intensity, weightlifting can be an excellent fat burner and weight loss tool.

Second, strength is of the utmost importance if you're entering the military. So, while it’s just as essential to boast a suitable body fat percentage, failing to prioritize strength in tandem with your fat loss journey will only set you back further.